The embodiments relate, in general, to endoscopes and medical procedures and, more particularly, to devices for facilitating the insertion and manipulation of endoscopic guide tube assemblies and other surgical instruments within a body cavity to accomplish various surgical and therapeutic procedures.
Minimally invasive procedures are desirable because such procedures can reduce pain and provide relatively quick recovery times as compared with conventional open medical procedures. Many minimally invasive procedures are performed through one or more ports through the abdominal wall, commonly known as trocars. A laparascope that may or may not include a camera may be used through one of these ports for visualization of the anatomy and surgical instruments may be used simultaneously through other ports. Such devices and procedures permit a physician to position, manipulate, and view anatomy, surgical instruments and accessories inside the patient through a small access opening in the patient's body.
Still less invasive procedures include those that are performed through insertion of an endoscope through a natural body orifice to a treatment region. Examples of this approach include, but are not limited to, cystoscopy, hysteroscopy, esophagogastroduodenoscopy, and colonoscopy. Many of these procedures employ the use of a flexible endoscope and flexible or steerable guide tube assemblies during the procedure. Flexible endoscopes often have a flexible, steerable articulating section near the distal end that can be controlled by the user utilizing controls at the proximal end. Treatment or diagnosis may be completed intralumenally, such as polypectomy or gastroscopy. Alternatively, treatment or diagnosis of extra-luminal anatomy in the abdominal cavity may be completed translumenally, for example, through a gastrotomy, colonotomy or vaginotomy. Minimally invasive therapeutic procedures to treat or diagnose diseased tissue by introducing medical instruments translumenally to a tissue treatment region through a natural opening of the patient are known as Natural Orifice Translumenal Endoscopic Surgery (NOTES™).
Regardless of the type of surgery involved and the method in which the endoscope is inserted into the body, the clinicians and surgical specialists performing such procedures have generally developed skill sets and approaches that rely on anatomical alignment for both visualization and tissue manipulation purposes. Over the years, a variety of different endoscope arrangements, as well as various types of steerable sheaths, guide tubes and overtubes for accommodating endoscopes have been developed. For example, various endoscopic guide systems and endoscopes are disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/468,462, entitled “Manipulatable Guide System and Methods For Natural Orifice Translumenal Endoscopic Surgery”, filed May 19, 2009, the disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety. Some of the guide system embodiments disclosed therein include extended articulatable working channels as well as a liftable camera device. Such configurations afford the clinician with the ability to advantageously manipulate and position the working channels while providing the flexibility to position the camera to provide a “bird's eye”, “stadium”, or laparoscopic view of the theater.
While these and other overtube systems and endoscopic surgical devices represent great advancements in the field of Natural Orifice Translumenal Endoscopic Surgery, various surgical procedures require the simultaneous use and manipulation of several of such devices. For example, typical NOTES procedures being done today employ a standard gastroscope through an overtube to gain access and conduct the surgical procedure through the working channels in the gastroscope. The clinician commonly uses one hand to manage the overtube and the second hand to rotate and/or articulate the gastroscope. Other operations might require the use of three or more surgical instruments, making their coordination and precise manipulation challenging. Similarly some overtube arrangements that can articulate in four directions require the clinician to use both hands to operate. Such manipulation is also complicated due to the need for the clinician to also position and manipulate a camera.
Consequently a need exists for a selectively positionable camera assembly for use with guide tube assemblies employed to guide and support a plurality of endoscopic surgical devices.
The foregoing discussion is intended only to illustrate some of the shortcomings present in the field at the time, and should not be taken as a disavowal of claim scope.